Improvement in carriage-tops



2 Sh'eetsSh.eet 2.

J. G. GOOLD. CARRIAGE-TOP.

Emma Nov. 9, 1875.

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1W Wm aw N PETERS, PHOTO-UTHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON. D. C.

UNIT D STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN (J. GOOLD, OF ALBANY, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN CARRIAGE-TOPS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No- 169,634, dated November 9, 1875; application filed September 13, 1875.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN G. GOOLD, of the city and county of Albany, State of New York, have invented certain Improvements in (Jarriage-Tops for VVheel-Vehicles 5 and I do hereby declare that the following is a descrip.

- in the jointed connections of parts employed.

My invention relates to that class of tops for wheel-vehicles known as falling leather tops; and consists in the devices herein described, which, in their combinations, give a proper support to the covering of the top, reduce its weight and expense, and afford a full and free view from the sides by persons seated within, or from without. v

In the drawings, A represents the seat of a carriage. B is the standard for attachment of the bows supporting the top, to which standard the said bows are hinged or pivoted by means of the usual slat-irons secured to said bows. O is the prop block iron, properly padded for the support of the bows when the top is top is thrown down, all of which are constructed in the usual manner.

In this invention there are employed but two full bowsone the front bow D, and the other the rear bow D, as shown. Said bows have secured to their lower ends proper slat-irons for a hinged attachment to the seat by means of any proper standard secured directly with the seat, as shown, or to a rail attached to the.

seat, as practiced by the trade.

Pivoted to said bows D and D, at a point about at the termination of the usual round of the corner of the bows, is the knuckle-jointed bar E, held in place from their pivoted ends by the metal eye-plates a a, secured to the inner edges of said bows, as shown in the several figures. F and F are short bows, pivoted to the bar E.

The said bows may be pivoted to said bar at a shortdistance from its ends, as at c c in Fig. l, or to the bows, as at e e in Fig. 3, or

may be pivoted to the said bar at a distance from the pivoted ends of the same equal to the height of bows F F, less the distance of the pivots a, a from the top edges of said bows, as shown in Fig. 5.

G is a lever-joint, made in thetusual, manner, and pivoted from one end to the propblock iron 0, and the other end to the jointed bar E, as shown in Figs. l, 4., and 5. When the upper end of said lever-joint is pivoted to the bar E at about center of its length, the top, when thrown down, will lie with the several bows D D and F F close to each other .as the leather linings and stuffing will admit;

- but when pivoted a little back from said center of length, as in Fig. 5, the'several bows will be held slightlyapart at their tops, so as not to ride on each other. A

The manner in which the several parts of this invention operate is as follows: When the top is up the bar E preserves the bows D and D spread apart, while the bows F F give support to the intermediate portion of the leather of the top between bows D and D. The leverg'oint G holds up the top by acting as a brace, in the usual manner, from the prop-block iron 0, at the rear of the seat. When the lever-jointG is sprungso as to permit the top to fall back, and the knuckle-joint bar E is also sprung, the top will drop back, as in Fig. 4, and fold down in the usual manner. When the lever-joint Gr only is sprung, and the bar E is permitted to remain extended, as in Figs. 1 and 5, the top-will remain spread, while at the same time it will be permitted to fall back of the seat.

It will be observed that in this improved top, all top-props secured to the outside of the bows, as heretofore employed, are dispensed with. It is, therefore, readily seen that the great leverage attending the employment of top-props, and the splitting or cracking of the bows, resulting from such leverage when the leather of the top has shrunk, are wholly pre vented.

It will also be observed that, as the knucklejoint bar E is pivoted at its ends to the im ner edges of the bows D and D, the said bar will be between the head-lining of the top and the outer leather cover of the same, so as to be 'fully hid from view from both the inside of the carriage and the outside, while the eyeplates at a, to which the ends are pivoted, are placed in a line directly opposite each other and on the edges of the opposite bows, with the knuckle-jointed bar between, prevents the twisting of the bow, which occurs in tops employing top-props on the sides.

Another great advantage arising from the improvements in this invention is that the top may be set, and the several parts, including the side joint 0, may be made and finished in the blacksmith-shop, and prior to being received in the, triinmers shop, as is required with the 01d form of top.

With these advantages are secured also the saving of the expense attending the capping of four nuts and two rivets, and the covering of four ends of bows, as heretofore employed, and the sides of the top are rendered more open, to permit persons within to have a better view of their surroundings.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s-- 1. The combination, with the full bows D and D, having no intermediate full bows between, of the knuckle-jointed bar E, pivoted at its ends to the inner edges of the said bows from the eye-plates a a, substantially as described. 1

2. The combination, with the knuckle-joint bar E, pivoted between the bows D and D from their inner edges, of the short bows F F, pivoted to the said knuckle-joint bar, and sustained and carried by the same, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with the bows D and D, pivoted from their inner and opposite facing edges of said bows, and the short bows F F, pivoted to and carried by the said knucklejoint bar of the side lever Gr, when combined to operate as described.

JOHN G. GOOLD. 

